🤠🏡 Selling Austin #21

Hi everyone, happy Friday!

Pay special attention to May’s most expensive home sales 🤑 and how to get into a top 10 school district in the US for a steal 🚨 .

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WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🔢 THE DATA

• 🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

• 👀 DEAL OF THE WEEK

• ⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

🔢 THE DATA

With the work from home movement and our hesitancy to go back into the office ( me included 👋) - commercial buildings are sitting vacant.

Austin offices are 20% vacant.

Dallas and Chicago are pioneering the office to residential boom.

In Dallas, the iconic Santander tower - one the city’s tallest buildings is part of a larger 2,000,000+ sqft office to 1,100 residence conversion. The goal is to bolster the viability of Dallas downtown while combating high vacancy rates.

Why should I care about this?

Converting commercial buildings is more economical and sustainable than new construction. These savings can then be passed onto the buyer. With an affordability crisis still plaguing the city - this is more important than ever.

Seems reasonable. Is Austin next?

Probably not. 🫠 
Last week, the Office of the City Auditor said Austin is not a good candidate because conversions work best with old buildings and nothing about Austin’s skyline screams old. Old buildings typically have smaller floor plans, which means they have a shorter distance from the windows to the center of the building. This is ideal for a conversion because architects can ensure all units get adequate light - much harder and more expensive to do in a large open floor plan building.

The audit found only 16 vacant office properties - the majority are less than 30,000 sqft. Only 1 Austin office has successfully been converted into residences: Brown Building Lofts. They converted 90 units in 2004.

Here’s a peek at a 1,200 sqft 2 bed 2 bath unit in the Brown Building which sold for $628,000 last month.

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

I know y’all will love this. Let’s check out May’s most expensive sales:

Let me know which one is your favorite!

3. Historic mansion? Near downtown? Check and check ✅ 
   Pending with a list price of $2,999,000

2. If you’re not into historic homes, check out this modern mansion with a view. 🌳 
   Sale Price: $4,850,000

1. Top signed contract in Austin. Two acres in Barton creek, a pool + tennis/basketball court with sweeping views.

   Sold in 2018 for $4,600,000
   Sold in 06/2024 for $6,000,000

   
   Welcome to Mirador:

👀 DEAL OF THE WEEK

One of the best indicators of home resale is school district.

Parents will pay a premium for their children to be in the best school districts.

The Eanes School District is the #1-rated district in Austin and ranked top 10 nationally.

This is a huge deal and competition is fierce. Eanes serves West Lake, Rollingwood and Northwest Austin. These are already expensive neighborhoods. The entry price point for Rollingwood is $2M+.

Here are some interesting figures:
The median home for sale in Eanes today: $2,890,000 (price per square foot: $671)
The median sold price in Eanes in the last 365 days: $1,625,000 (ppsqft: $575)

Snagging a property below these rates is an incredible investment. Prices continue to increase here as the city grows. Parents purchase homes here before their children head to elementary school to guarantee themselves one of 8,000 coveted slots in Eanes.

With all that background - here is our Deal of the Week:

Sale Price: $899,000
Kirtana’s Suggestion: $850,000
Ppsqft: $279 🚨 🚨 🚨 

Remember: you don’t want to be the most expensive home in the neighborhood. Let the high prices of those around you pull your home price up. Small improvements will yield large returns.

Psst: It’s also on 0.65 acres. Check on this post on why land value is going up in Austin.

If you would like to tour this property, let me know by replying to this email!

⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

If you’re a buyer/seller/investor/renter or just interested in real estate - this weekly newsletter will help guide your decision making and help you better understand the market.

Thank you for being here! Reply to this email if you have any questions or just to say hello! 👋 

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